


thy deeds

by no_i (orphan_account)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, FFXV Kink Meme, Gen, Punishment, Talking, Very Awkward Discussions Over Tea, fuck off if i get mad that canon didn't give him comeuppance, then i can fucking give him comeuppance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 01:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/no_i
Summary: Thy deeds shall be repeated.Purged of his affliction, Ardyn inquires about what might have become of his brother.





	thy deeds

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: _anything where somnus gets what he deserves_
> 
>  
> 
> _that's it. it kinda bugs me that somnus set off all this destruction and destroyed innocent lives and just gets to become king. luckily we have fic :D_
> 
>  EDIT: felt too much like a bashfic to me, and i'm not super proud of it anyway, so i'm gonna orphan this. it'll still be up under my name, but i'm trying to separate myself from it, hahaha. thanks for reading, though!
> 
> original notes:
> 
> i don't normally write fic like this but if the novel has somnus getting his ass beat to hell and back in _some_ way then i will cry literal fucking tears of joy because nothing could be a better cherry on top of the (hopefully happier) alternate ending

"You wanted to see me?"

The room, an unused (until recently) guest room in Fenestala Manor, is silent. Silk curtains frame an arched window, and the setting sun casts a warm glow upon the stark white furnishings. On a small sofa, the former Accursed lounges - His demeanor has barely changed upon his return to his supposed "old" self - looking upon his guest with exhausted, half-lidded eyes. He hasn't cleaned himself up at all; his face is still stubble-lined and his crimson hair is still a bit matted.

There is tea set out in front of him.

Lunafreya had imagined their talk would be serious, whatever he may have wished to speak about. As she sits beside Ardyn, heart still pounding from dread despite the man's current condition, she catches the earthy scent of a Tenebraen herbal tea. To Lunafreya, it smells familiar. Like home. Like the warmth of her mother's arms and the family she once had. For a moment, she questions if he had intended this. Ardyn smiles, a genuine smile she isn't used to seeing, and pours two cups before he finally speaks.

"Indeed I did," he says, "You could say there's been something troubling me. I thought there would be none better to ask regarding this matter than the Oracle herself."

His voice and cryptic words cause Lunafreya to bristle, albeit involuntarily. She idly stirs a spoonful of sugar into her tea.  _Always a single spoonful, never too much._  More than anything, she wants to ease herself. He is fine. He will not harm her again.

"You may ask me anything," Lunafreya says, "I assume this relates to the Astrals?"

"Somewhat." Ardyn runs a finger along the rim of his teacup. "Rather, it's a matter of spirits. The Beyond."

The Beyond. Even speaking of it causes a chill to run down her spine. Lunafreya takes her first sip of tea, though the taste barely registers. The chill doesn't fade. She should be there, she thinks. She shouldn't be alive. That he is here, purified, that she is here, alive...It should not have happened.

When she falls silent, Ardyn is quick to break the tension in the air.

"There, there," he says, "I simply wish to ask: What do you believe became of the founder king?"

Lunafreya nearly chokes at these words. She swallows hard, a single sip of tea feeling like a piece of lead falling through her throat. He's asking about his brother, and quite casually, at that. He shouldn't. He shouldn't be so calm. Is he calm? Lunafreya swears that his hand is twitching, shaking, that there is rage he is trying to hold back so that he does not harm another.

"I..." Lunafreya stammers, fishing for a response. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'm asking if you know." He's barely touched his teacup. It's clearly a formality, more there for his guest than him. "Have you seen what became of him?"

"...You want to know if he was condemned," Luna surmises.

Ardyn only gives a solemn nod. His smile has long since faded. His eyes have clouded, even.

It hits Lunafreya then how much his eyes resemble Noctis's. They don't have the same youthful, even mischievous quality he has, but they feel soft and welcoming, and they're just as brilliant a blue. Just as Noctis's eyes clouded with tears upon their reunion, his have been marred with the myriad of emotions that have surfaced. Bitter hatred that never faded. The loss of those dear to him. The melancholy of knowing that he will never go back. The time he is in is unfamiliar, and it always will be.

There are barbs around her heart, she swears. It is bittersweet, seeing Ardyn soften like this.

She places a hand upon his. He is no longer her enemy. There is no need for her to put up her guard like she has.

But there is no use lying to him. Lunafreya knows not of the affairs of the dead.

"I'm afraid I don't." No matter how many times she tries. "Your brother's crimes...Even I do not know if the gods have condemned him. I'm sorry."

Ardyn shakes his head slowly.

"No, my dear. Do not apologize," he sighs, "If I may, however...Your unceasing love for this world. Does it extend towards him?"

The silence before her answer is much shorter.

"Not at all." Lunafreya does not want to hold grudges, yet she found herself holding one towards a long-dead man. She realizes then that she, too, is simply awaiting the knowledge that Somnus may have been condemned. "For what he has done to you...I could never offer my forgiveness."

A smirk crosses Ardyn's face.

He is silent. Lunafreya says nothing more. For a while, they only sit, taking in the sunset over Tenebrae. If nothing else, he is satisfied with her answer.

"To think," Ardyn finally says, "I almost had you. Altissia was quite the farce."

His words prompt a chuckle out of Lunafreya, and she cannot tell if it comes from nervousness or genuine mirth.

She breaths deeply. In, out.

Then she returns to her tea, hoping to drown out any unease with the nostalgic taste.

"Yes," she says after another sip, "I had only ever imagined being at peace in death. That even you were saved..."

She trails off. She thinks back to Noctis. He's alive. They're  _all_  alive.

Something about Ardyn's question, however, still jabs at her mind.

What  _did_  become of his brother?

* * *

  
When those in the Ring had been freed, most were greeted with blissful silence. Peace. A moment to pass into the Beyond peacefully, without being burdened for an eternity to watch over their next of kin. The souls of one-hundred-twelve monarchs had scattered into their afterlives, each breathing a sigh of relief upon arrival.

For the founder king, it was like being pulled from beneath an ocean, the burn of saltwater coursing through his entire being.

The streets of Insomnia are unwelcoming to him. When he wanders, he wanders alone, cloaked in black and aching. There is something in his mind, like the buzz of a hive. It crescendos. It does not leave. It is eternal. Something is speaking to him, evermore.

 _...thy deeds..._

His eyes are wide open, unblinking. He is practically naked, wandering without a weapon by his side, the pain hindering his every movement. He is heavy. The buzzing grows.

 _...shall be repeated._

Something is coming. Closer, closer. It hurts. The ache never ceases. There is something in his mind, endless, maddening. A voice sings softly to her mortal lover. His brother screams. Incomprehensible voices course through his mind, overwhelming his every sense and practically digging into his mind to tear it apart.

 _Thy deeds shall be repeated._

His back splits open as he opens his mouth to defy. He closes his eyes. He remains. He does not fade.

And in a cruel moment of irony, Somnus never sleeps again.

 


End file.
